Mark Tapscott: Gun control push won't stop all carnage

Being a Maryland resident, I had to wait a week or so for the authorities to do a criminal background check on me, a process to which I have no objection. Since then, I've only been to the shooting range with it twice (the second time with my son over the holidays), but it took no more than about five rounds to understand why the 1911 is so popular.

I also hope to buy a shotgun in the near future, thanks to another holiday encounter at a clay pigeon shooting range. I won't be surprised if my wife proves to be a better shot than I am.

Data wonks know that “outliers” don't represent an underlying data set well. For the same reason, the creation of new restrictions on law-abiding gun owners won't stop the criminally insane from shedding the blood of innocents. But new restrictions could disarm a gun owner who happens to be in the right place at the right time to prevent carnage. That would be a tragedy, too.

Tapscott, a native of Moore who attended Oklahoma State University, is executive editor of The Washington Examiner.